4m Gaza to NYC: 4m Gaza to Cairo & back
Pic taken at the hotel, showing Africa on the Globe
Gaza, October 26, hmmm where should I start
from? Ok, so after losing any hope of doing my US Visa interview in Jerusalem
due to Israeli hindrance I shifted all my efforts to Egypt. US Embassy in Egypt
gave me an appointment on November 13th, which is 10 days after my
assigned date of being in NYC. After emailing the US Embassy in Cairo
expressing the urgency of having an appointment ASAP and attaching the UN
invitation, I got an email from the embassy on the afternoon of October 18th
saying I have a special appointment on October 21st.
I had only two days to fathom this. I headed to
Cairo on October 20th and things were going relatively easy. We
reached the Egyptian border very fast. Fewer than 20 persons were leaving Gaza
that day so the border was empty until it was crowded by endless flocks of
pilgrims heading to Mecca. My sister was the only female. We waited anxiously
while I was watching nervously 90% of the guys being asked to head back to Gaza
for not having a strong reason to reach Cairo. One of them had medical reports.
I thought my turn will come. I will be rejected
and asked to head back home. But after hours and hours of waiting, I was asked
to an interview with the Egyptian intelligence office at the Egyptian border.
They were very respectful and cooperative. He let me through after he saw my UN
invitation.
My journey to Cairo began with a long 5 hours
ride from Egyptian Rafah to Cairo. It felt weird, overwhelming and I felt like
a fish that is being taken out of water as the distance between us and Gaza
grew.
I reached Cairo at night. We checked in at the
hotel and I started getting nervous about my appointment at the US Embassy in
Cairo the second day.
I woke up early and head to the embassy 1 hour prior to
my special appointment to find lines of people waiting entry to the embassy. I
freaked out and nearly danced in the cab. I showed my email from the embassy
saying I have a special appointment, the guards checked if my name is on a list
they had, then motioned to me to enter after they found my name.
Security procedures were strict. I had deodorant in my handbag and it kind of
set the biggest alarm. I was asked to take it out and spray it on my hand. We
then waited for a few minutes to check for any reactions on the skin, when
nothing happened, I was granted entry. I went through all the regular routine,
I waited for an hour and then my time came. I was asked to go to window 6. I
went with a smile, I was being super polite but I was treated so poorly by a
girl who had a constant frown on her face. She seemed like she hated her job,
when I asked her, "Why are you upset and treating me with hatred?",
she replied that she is just doing her job.
I didn’t have an original receipt of the paid
Visa fees since Nusair (An amazing Egyptian brother and friend) did it to me
and I had no time to go get it from him before I headed to the Embassy. I was
asked to immediately leave and never come back before I get it. I asked her if
there is someone else I can talk to, she talked to a lady on window 7 who claims
to be the manager of the office. They were discussing my issue while laughing.
Lady on window 7 said she is the manager and she cant do anything without the
original receipt, a copy wont help.
"Look, we do our best to help
"you" (people coming from Gaza) but we aren’t obliged to surpass
common procedures for you. What goes on everyone, goes on you, you aren’t
special. Go get the receipt then we can talk," lady on window 7 said in
way that made me feel like she is superior while I am inferior just because I
come from Gaza.
I left the embassy and headed to Nusair's house
to get the original receipt then headed back to the embassy. It took two hours
and I didn’t get to see Nusair after that. They made me go through everything
once again and wait for more hours until I finally had my interview with the
counselor after waiting, fixing every wrong thing you can ever happen and
jumping every obstacle that was placed infront of me.
I decided not to judge the US Embassy in Cairo
just because of an angry girl. Lady on window 7 was very sweet and friendly at
the end. The consular was new and she was also very friendly and sweet. She
chatted and asked questions to confirm the info on my US Visa application. The
system went down a few times and many small but frustrating things happened but
at the end I was approved. But the down side of being from Gaza is that you
have to wait for a week or more to get the final approval. Then you will have
to wait for another week or 10 days for the DHL delivery.
I told the consular that I cant afford all that
time. I explained how important this is to me, my aim isn’t just to make to NYC
for the UN media training, my aim is to give Gazan youth hope and motivation to
follow their dreams no matter what obstacles they had to leap over. I wanted to
show Gazans that nothing is impossible if you put your mind and heart into it.
She sympathized and asked everybody if she could help, but she cant, it’s a
common procedure.
I felt defeated. I tasted failure and
desperation. I felt like I betrayed Gaza's youth. I headed back to the hotel
and informed the UN about everything and told them that I will be heading home.
They asked me to sit tight for an additional day so they can intervene.
I headed back to Gaza on October 25th
after guarantees from the UN that everything will work out. But in reality, no
one can guarantee anything. This is your life if you live in Gaza. You live in
mere uncertainty, nothing is guaranteed even when they are guaranteed.
If you live in Gaza, your future is a mystery,
tomorrow is a surprise, uncertainty is a lifestyle and guarantees are built on
shaky grounds.
Due to Qatari Emir's visit, Rafah border closed
on October 23rd so nobody crossed. Gazans piled up and hundreds of
Gazans headed back home on the 24th. Myself and my sister were among
them. It was so crowded. We were pushed, shoved, hit, smacked, spat on, stepped
on, humiliated, tortured and subjected to endless hours of waiting and
standing. At first I blamed Gazans for not being organized. Then, I blamed the
Egyptian border patrol for not being organized or able to control all of us in
a civilized way. Then, I discovered that the problem is in actually both
parties. Egyptian patrol didn’t know how to handle us and actually treated us
like a 2nd degree species and we didn’t help them or each other
instead we made things more complicated by being selfish, inconsiderate and
reckless.
I couldn’t feel any happier or exhausted when I
entered Gaza. Now, I have to head back to Cairo in a few days and soon head to
NYC although till this second I have no guarantees that it will happen in time.
I try to not take the easy road, ever, because
taking the hard road always pays off. I am still fighting and I will keep
fighting until I make this trip and prove to Gazans that we can break the siege
and leave for better education\training no matter how impossible it may sounds.
Will I make it to NYC or not? We would know
soon for sure. I have passed a long journey till now after all.
P.S. A looooooong individual blog post will
soon be posted about "Egypt". I stayed there for a few days and saw
so little but observed allot. My opinions and observations will come from a
narrow point of view because I saw less than 1%
of Egypt but I definitely plan on visiting it again and again.
Yes, I miss Egypt but in Gaza I feel like I was
home.
Love,
Omar from Gaza
